Page 54 of Shadow of the Moon

Walking out to lean against the doorjamb, she looked at Devlin. His face was slack with sleep and grizzled with a beard. His mostly-gray hair was mussed, but he looked relaxed. The blanket was down around his waist, and she had to appreciate the shape he was in, though he was a little bruised as well. The thought of what his body could do to hers woke her up a little, and made her smile.

“What are you thinking, standing there all delicious and bruised?”

Amberly snorted, turning her forearms for him. “I know, right? Look at all these lovely purple things…” Walking forward, she sank to the edge of the bed. “I was thinking that I was very glad you were with me this week. I don’t know that I could have done this with anyone else.”

Devlin snorted. “I know you couldn’t have. It had to be me.”

She danced her fingers across his ribs. “Don’t be smug.”

“I’m not,” he laughed, grabbing her hand. He sobered, looking into her eyes. “I’m very glad you were with me as well,” he murmured, drawing her down for a kiss.

Amberly let herself sink into it, knowing that they were going to have to deal with bad things in a little while. She needed this moment to just be with him. To remind herself what she fought for when she dealt with criminals like Regent. Pushing that out of her mind, she basked in Devlin’s love, and wondered where they went next.

They checkedout of the hotel at seven that evening, and were handed a message as they check out. There was a private plane at the airport waiting for them that would fly them directly to Virginia. Once they landed, a car met them and escorted them to the George Bush Center For Intelligence.

Devlin had gone quiet, and she knew why. This would be like walking into a den of cobras for him. The last time he’d been here, he’d been considered a criminal, and she had no doubt those memories were strong in his mind. “Just remember,” she said as she used her ID to swipe into the quiet building. “They are in the wrong. They were in the wrong with you three years ago, and they need to be kissing your ass. As do I.”

Dev gave her a slight smile before turning his badass SEAL face on.

Amberly didn’t even try to go to her own office first. She headed upstairs to Deputy Director Brown, knowing he probably had a conference room assigned to the Tango 11 case. And she was right. Despite the late hour, she walked into a bustling, energetic throng of people wading through the information she and Devlin had forwarded to them. In her hands, she carried the box of hard copy. And the phones.

It startled her when someone started clapping. Then another person, and another, until the entire room was clapping for her and Devlin. Amberly didn’t get embarrassed very often, but she felt her cheeks heat, and she nodded at people in acknowledgement.

“In my office, Temple,” Brown called out. “And you too, Kreed.”

Amberly stepped into the office and set the box down on the edge of Brown’s desk. The man had never been especially intimidating to her. Short and bald as a cue ball, there was something a little babyish about him. But he’d impressed her this week. Rather than being an irritating asshole, he’d actually been a supportive boss, carrying his load on this end.

“I’m glad to see you two made it back in one piece,” he murmured, settling into his leather office chair. He waved for them to sit in the chairs opposite, and she sank down. Devlin stood at the door, unbending. She’d seen that expression in his eyes before, and she knew there would be no coddling or bending him.

“I feel like we should get this out of the way first,” Brown murmured, holding a folded letter out to Devlin.

Devlin moved forward and took the paper, unfolding it and scanning. Then he handed it to Amberly. It was a formal apology from the director of the CIA. And a promise to closely monitor the SAC division of the CIA.

“I want to personally apologize as well,” Brown murmured. “I know the agency isn’t perfect, but this was wrong on many levels.”

“You weren’t in charge of it,” Devlin murmured finally, “so you weren’t responsible. No apology needed.”

Brown shrugged and didn’t look convinced, but he turned his attention back to Amberly. “We’re going through Frank’s life with a fine-tooth comb right now. His wife is devastated, but kind of not surprised. She said she’d noticed him being ‘off’ and distracted. More complaining. She thought it was another case that had him on edge. She doesn’t seem to be involved with the operation, though.”

Amberly frowned. Anna was a good woman, and she didn’t deserve what Frank had done to her. She didn’t deserve this scrutiny. Once things kind of settled down, maybe she’d go talk to her.

“We haven’t found any of the bombs he supposedly planted,” Brown said, “and nothing in any of the pictures…”

His voice trailed off as if in question, so Amberly treated it as such. “I don’t think Regent knew about them. I think this was Frank’s own side-project.”

Brown sighed, and she could see tiredness in his expression. It was obvious he’d burned the midnight oil last night as well. Tonight wasn’t looking great either.

“Both phones are in a fireproof case in the box,” she told him softly, “as well as a bunch of the most important paperwork we found. Maps.”

Brown moved to the box and started removing items. He immediately called the techs for the phones. Within less than a minute, a team arrived and locked the box away. They would x-ray the box and do a dozen other tests before they even cracked it open, probably. It was like dealing with a hot potato in that they didn’t know if the phones were rigged, so they treated them as if they were.

Hence, the private plane. As much as she would like to think it was to make their life easier, Amberly knew it wasn’t. Less collateral damage if they did blow.

“Frank filed several complaints with his immediate supervisors,” Brown told them, “the most recent concerning me getting the job he thought he was supposed to have.”

Amberly lifted her brows. “I didn’t even realize he’d put in for it.”

Brown nodded. “He did. And he was pretty pissed when he didn’t get it.”

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